This invention relates to a transporting system for carrying refrigerated and/or frozen merchandise together with normal parcels and packages, and more particularly, to a refrigerated container for use in such a system.
In general, merchandise, parcels and packages are transported from one place to another by vehicles after being gathered at a collecting station. Refrigerated/frozen merchandise that is collected in such a system must be shipped in refrigerated containers and, while awaiting shipment for final delivery, must be stored under refrigeration to maintain its temperature.
Previous systems for transporting refrigerated/frozen merchandise required warehouses with refrigerating capability as well as vehicles with refrigerated containers. Thus, a relatively expensive system was required.
Recently, there has been an increase in the demand for the delivery of personal parcels or small packages to homes or offices. To handle refrigerated/frozen merchandise to be delivered, each shop and distribution center in the transportation system requires means such as a refrigerator or refrigerated space for storing the merchandise.
On the other hand, refrigerating apparatus used to refrigerate a warehouse and a container for the vehicle are specifically different and are not interchangeable. For example, refrigerating apparatus for a warehouse is normally operated by commerical electric power while refrigerating apparatus or a container for a vehicle is operated by the power available on the vehicle. Thus, in shipping refrigerated/frozen merchandise it must be moved from one refrigerating apparatus to another in moving in between the vehicle and the warehouse, which is expensive.